Quote:
Originally Posted by Takeda Shingen
Even though I think that Walker is a short-sighted idiot for gutting education, I am glad that he won. Recall elections should be reserved for official misconduct, not becausey you disagree with policy. Public officials are elected to set policy; if you do not like said policy, vote him out at the next election. Don't try to run an end-around on the election process.
|
*Sigh*
This is yet another statement fostered by union talking points. He didn't "gut" education. He did TWO very important things: cut state aid to school districts, and ... wait for it ... implemented Act 10 as a tool to allow those districts to compensate for the cuts!
In other words, he made the communities themselves responsible for their school funding. They still have the property tax levy, but now they can implement reforms to cut labor costs in order to compensate for the money the schools aren't getting from the state - money that the STATE DIDN'T HAVE.
Now, we could've taken the Illinois route, but, well, that's worked, right?
Part of why this recall failed was because the unions promised the sky would fall, and more than a year later, it didn't. That's why Barrett did NOT run on a platform of restoring collective bargaining - he barely even paid lip-service to it. The Democrats figured out they lost that issue months ago even though the unions didn't - they blew four million dollars on Kathleen Falk.
Ironically, some of the hardest hit school districts are the ones that attempting to avoid Walker's Act 10 reforms by hurrying into union contracts (Janesville comes to mind). The districts that embraced said reforms are quite healthy.
It's amazing the kind of fiscal health that can be achieved when you don't have to buy health insurance FROM A UNION COMPANY and an INFLATED RATE (WEA Trust).
What shouldn't be missed here is that all of this could have been avoided if the unions would have acted in good faith. FDR was right - public employee unions simply cannot work. Afterall, they simply funnel their dues into electing people that will give them whatever they want.